Redding or Custom RCBS....

n/a

I need to get some dies for my .300 Win Mag A. I. and I'm wondering if I should get some custom dies from RCBS made to fit my chamber from a fired brass, or if I should just buy the standard .300 Win A.I. dies that Redding offers. My gunsmith said to go with the Redding dies...what are ya'lls thoughts??? Either one is going to be very expensive.

dcloco

ECC - I am trying to imagine what distance and how large the animal is that you would need to apply an AI to a 300 Win Mag!....nope...still cannot picture the beast. Gotta ask...WHAT is it? Sasquatch by chance?

JustC

Buy "Newlon Precision" die blanks and have the gunsmith cut them with the same reamer.

nononsense

ECC,

You can also consider:

http://www.6mmbr.com/CarstensenJLC01.html

http://www.jlcprecision.com/pages/1/index.htm (new and not much info)

Best.

CapnMidnight

I use standard RCBS dies for my 300 Win Mag, have owned the gun since 1968, it still shoots m.o.a. Remember guys, it's illeagal to shot ol' Big Foot up here. We refer to hunting accuraey as minute of elk.
For what it's worth.
W.D.

steve4102

quote:Originally posted by JustC
Buy "Newlon Precision" die blanks and have the gunsmith cut them with the same reamer.


How does this work? If I have the Smith cut the die with the same reamer as the chamber how can this resize the brass? Shouldn't the die be a bit smaller than the chamber especially in the neck?

nononsense

steve4102,

I'm not trying to answer for JustC but here is the thinking behind some of these die designs. Read through the descriptions and you'll see that the dies made from your chamber reamer are used to make bushing sizing dies. These dies size the neck by using a bushing and then bump the shoulder back by usually about 0.001" for clearance. This is about the absolute minimum sizing that can used for cases made for that chamber.

http://newlonprecision.com/

The other methods require another reamer to be ground undersized in various spots on the reamer in order to size the cases smaller.

This is the link that I provided above and suggest that you read through the descriptions of Jim's dies in order to gain a better understanding of another style available from him. This method uses honing to adjust the amount of sizing provided by the individual die.

http://www.6mmbr.com/CarstensenJLC01.html

There are also a couple of types of dies that can be used for:

neck sizing only

small base sizing

Other custom die makers:

http://www.warner-tool.com/dies.htm

http://www.harrellsprec.com/fl_die.html

http://www.baldeaglemachine.com/html/custom_dies.html

http://lewilson.com/

http://www.neiljones.com/

Best.

jtmarine0831

If you are going for the highest accuracy potential, go with having the die cut with your chamber reamer and a sizing bushing for the neck just as Nononsense has suggested. This will match the sized round exactly to YOUR chamber! This process isn't logical for most firearms and is a kick in the butt if you have multiple firearms in the same caliber cause you will run in to major problems if/when you mix up some rounds. Otherwise I would just buy the Redding dies and save the money and wait! Redding, in my opinion, makes very good dies and stand behind their products. And hell, if you end up wanting more after the fact, you can always have a set cut.

bpost

Unless you NEED benchrest type accuracy go with the Redding dies; they are very good products. If this is a field gun having the last .001 squeezed out of a chamber dimension can be bad ju-ju.

Tailgunner1954

quote:Originally posted by steve4102
quote:Originally posted by JustC
Buy "Newlon Precision" die blanks and have the gunsmith cut them with the same reamer.


How does this work? If I have the Smith cut the die with the same reamer as the chamber how can this resize the brass? Shouldn't the die be a bit smaller than the chamber especially in the neck?


Edit The Newlon dies are bushing type dies, which answers your neck sizing question, the rest of the story is below.

Talk to Troy Newlon or Dave Manson, both will tell you the same thing.
IF your barrel is CM, and your die SS, than the difference in actual cut diameters (after reaming & polishing) will be about .002 smaller on the SS die (machining properties of the materials being the difference).
IF your barrel and die are both SS, than you will need to have the ID of the die hard chromed .001/side.
Note that after reaming, the Newlon SS die bodies need to be hardened.
Newlon also offers a "leaded steel" die blank, that one MUST be cut with a undersize reamer.

BTW, coated (TiN, TiC, TiCN, AlTiN etc) reamers cut smaller, and smoother, than uncoated reamers do. Something else to consider when ordering reamers.

steve4102

Thanks!